Educational Controversies: Towards a Discourse of Reconciliation (Routledgefalmer Research)

For the last 100 years, people have argued vigorously about a vast number of educational issues. At the heart of the arguments lies the question: What is the purpose of education? This conflict of educational purpose has seen rifts between academics, educators, politicians and parents. The authors of this book don't believe the conflicts need to be so hysterical, nor that the oppositions are incompatible. Rather, that it is in the manner in which debate is conducted that is so damaging. In this book, the authors contend that there are political, social, moral and civic needs for a new stance to debate the way forward. Examining a number of key controversies in educational discourse the book suggests ways in which controversies may be reconciled by looking for interrelations, mutual dependencies and links of importance. It develops current debate and provides suggestions for developing nurturing and supportive learning communities and so lead to educational change. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Introduction: the challenge to improve public education......Page 12 A new vision of educational debate: reconciliatory discourse......Page 24 The problem and the vision: the battle over math education......Page 32 The procedure for RD......Page 47 How should children learn? Competition and collaboration......Page 66 The conditions and requirements for RD......Page 78 Where should children go to school? The school choice controversy......Page 88 How should children's learning be assessed? The testing controversy......Page 103 What should children learn? Curriculum complexity......Page 120 Similar problems in the world of educational purpose......Page 135 Conclusion: the need for RD......Page 146 Appendix: a protocol for reconciliatory discourse......Page 151 Bibliography......Page 158 Index......Page 163 We strongly believe that teaching is a fundamentally moral occupation and that the approach to resolving educational controversies should be set in a moral frame (Sockett, 1993).